A coronavirus-focused linkfest is a weekly feature here at Abnormal Returns. Please stay safe and find a vaccination site near you. You can read last week’s edition here.
Quote of the Day
"On the ground, the U.S. is now running an uncontrolled experiment with every strategy all at once. COVID-19 policies differ wildly by state, county, university, workplace, and school district."
(Sarah Zhang)
Chart of the Day

Half of the world has been vaccinate against Covid-19. (via @ashishkjha)
Vaccines
- The race is on to develop a vaccine against all coronaviruses. (wired.com)
- A skin patch could replace injections for Covid vaccines. (newscientist.com)
- Novavax ($NVAX) and its partner the Serum Institute of India have received authorization for their Covid-19 vaccine in Indonesia. (ft.com)
- WHO has approved the use of Indian-made Covaxin vaccine. (washingtonpost.com)
- What lessons have learned about vaccine distribution during the Covid-19 pandemic? (wsj.com)
- Should your behavior change post-booster? (theatlantic.com)
Children
- Vaccinating children is a big step toward ending the acute phase of the pande ic. (vox.com)
- Pediatricians will be key in the roll out of the Pfizer ($PFE) vaccine for children. (statnews.com)
- Some schools are working hard to help distribute the vaccine. (wsj.com)
- Why children are getting a smaller Pfizer ($PFE) dose. (theatlantic.com)
- There won't be a Moderna ($MRNA) vaccine for teens until 2022. (wsj.com)
- Widespread vaccinations will help eliminate masking in schools. (washingtonpost.com)
- The case for mandating vaccines in children. (vox.com)
- Families with newly vaccinated children are making big travel plans. (wsj.com)
- Andy Slavitt talks about the decision making behind the approval of the vaccine for children with Dr. Paul Offit. (overcast.fm)
Mandates
- The Biden administration vaccine mandate is better described as a 'vaccine or weekly testing' mandate. (axios.com)
- How Tyson Foods ($TSN) got the vast majority of its workers vaccinated. (nytimes.com)
- To-date the hype around vaccine mandates causing big disruptions has been wrong. (axios.com)
- Remote worker don't need to abide by vaccine mandates. (fortune.com)
Treatments
- The UK is the first country to authorize the use of Merck's ($MRK) molnupiravir. (wapo.st)
- Pfizer's ($PFE) experimental COVID-19 antiviral greatly reduced the risk of severe outcomes. (businessinsider.com)
- A doctor on why the Pfizer ($PFE) pill has a leg up on the Merck ($MRK) pill. (washingtonpost.com)
Countries
- Tanzania denied the existence of Covid until it couldn't any more. (wsj.com)
- Trieste, Italy has become a Covid hot spot due in part to anti-vaccine demonstrations. (nytimes.com)
- The high cost China's citizens are paying in pursuit of a 'Covid zero' policy. (wsj.com)
States
- How Puerto Rico effectively rolled out vaccines to its populace. (statnews.com)
- How Baltimore avoided the worst of the pandemic. (reasonstobecheerful.world)
- Doctors who spread Covid misinformation are easily renewing their medical licenses. (npr.org)
Cruise ships
- Despite strict measures, the Delta variant has found its way onto cruise ships. (washingtonpost.com)
- The big cruise lines are likely going to avoid any legal liability for Covid-19 deaths. (latimes.com)
Data
- More than 5 million people have died of Covid-19 worldwide. (arstechnica.com)
- 28 million years of life have been lost globally to Covid-19. (newscientist.com)
- Russia has experienced 753,000 excess deaths since the pandemic began. (ft.com)
- In the U.S. the novel coronavirus is finding fewer habitable hosts. (theatlantic.com)
- Data show vaccination more protective than prior infection against Covid-19. (wsj.com)
- Millions have died from Covid, very few have been autopsied. (bloomberg.com)
Research
- Why are men more likely to die of Covid-19? (nytimes.com)
- On the relationship between obesity, diabetes and negative Covid-19 outcomes. (politico.com)
- No matter how you look at it the Delta variant carries a higher viral load. (visualcapitalist.com)
- Scientists identified a specific gene that doubles the risk of respiratory failure from Covid-19. (bloomberg.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: living with Covid. (abnormalreturns.com)
- There's only one way through the pandemic tunnel. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Why we are eventually going to need digital health passes, i.e. vaccine passports. (abnormalreturns.com)
- The 'Swiss cheese model' and the importance of avoiding single points of failure in pandemic and life. (abnormalreturns.com)
- On the challenge of holding two competing thoughts on the pandemic in your head a the same time. (abnormalreturns.com)
Mixed media
- The novel coronavirus is no longer all that novel. What is the goal of our Covid policies moving forward? (theatlantic.com)
- Even after the acute phase of the pandemic, burnout will change health care workers permenantly. (statnews.com)
- The pandemic exposed a problem with how science is funded in the U.S. (theatlantic.com)
- The pandemic stresses us out because it keeps changing. (theatlantic.com)
- Is it still worth debating the origin of SARS-CoV2? (statnews.com)